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Broderick's Battle Creek Sports History - Week of March 19

Each week, Enquirer Sports Columnist Bill Broderick will step back into the history books and look at the sports world over the decades. This week we look at the Battle Creek sports scene from the week of March 19

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Broderick's Battle Creek Sports History - Week of March 19

This week in 2005

*Olivet finished off an undefeated season in boys' basketball and won the
Class C state title with a 74-55 win over Unionville-Sebewaing at the Breslin
Center at Michigan State University, led by Zane Gay and Cam Bramer.

*The Kellogg Community College women's basketball team finished sixth at the
NJCAA Division II National Tournaament behind Lakeview grad Audrey Graham,
Harper Creek grad Tara Plaunt and was coached by Dic Doumanian, who is currently
the girls' basketball coach at Pennfield.

*Battle Creek Central grad Ben Reed saw his college career come to an end as
Western Michigan University lost to TCU in the NIT. Reed had a game-high 26
points.

Broderick's Battle Creek Sports History - Week of March 19

This week in 1995

*St. Philip made history by becoming the first Michigan high school
volleyball team to win four state titles in a row, beating Maple City-Glen Lake
at Kalamazoo Central High School. The Tigers were directed by legendary St.
Philip coach Sheila Guerra and led by sophomores Brooke Formsma and Sara Reeetz,
along with seniors Mary Ann Staib and Jenny Heisler. A lot has changed since
then. St. Philip has since broke that record and won a ninth straight title in
2014. The match was also televised by a TV station called PASS, which some will
remember was the former name of Fox Sports Detroit.

*The Michigan Battle Cats played their first game as a franchise, losing an
exhibition spring training game, 5-4. Longtime fan favorite Donnie Sadler was
the first Battle Cats batter.

*Olivet was again in the Final Four in boys' basketball, but lost in the
Class C state semifinals to No. 1-ranked Centreville, 63-58, to end the year at
25-2. Nate Whitson had 25 points in the contest.

Broderick's Battle Creek Sports History - Week of March 19

This week in 1985

*The Enquirer, with an expanded coverage area, covered Hastings, Sturgis and
Tekonsha in the state boys' basketball tournament. All three teams lost on the
same day in the state quarterfinals. Seemingly the coverage was warranted as
huge crowds watched all three games. Hastings, behind Mark Brown, lost to Flint
Beecher in front of 4,873 fans at Jenison Fieldhouse at MSU. Sturgis lost to
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at Western Michigan University in front of 4,904 fans.
And Tekonsha lost to Bridgman in front of a overflow crowd of more than 2,000 at
Marshall High School.

*The Enquirer All-City boys' basketball team was featured for 1975 as Battle
Creek Central's Chuck Turner was named Coach of the Year. Also on the team, were
BCC's Aaron Cusic, K.P. Porter, Jimmie Wilson and Greg Williams, Pennfield's Jim
Berends, Terry Tindol and Mike Johnson, along with Lakeview's Mike Bivens, St.
Philip's George Starring and Springfield's Ken Bauer.

*Three Battle Creek area players were named to the Associated Press All-State
boys' basketball team, including Albion's Clarence Jackson, Lakewood's Al
Westendorpf and Concord's Brian Jurasek. A young sophomore with a 'magical'
touch also made the All-State team named Earvin Johnson out of Lansing
Everett.

*The Kellogg Community College men's basketball team was looking back at an
improved season after it went 10-16 behind team MVP Mark Marlowe. The Bruins had
gone 1-27 the season before.

Broderick's Battle Creek Sports History - Week of March 19

This week in 1965

*In a slow sports week, local fans were set to be entertained with some
'professional basketball'. An ad in the Enquirer featured an upcoming game at
the BCC Fieldhouse between the Harlem Travelers and Pro Football's Cleveland
Browns. The Travelers were not quite the Harlem Globetrotters, but had Goose
Tatum Jr., the son of a Globetrotter, and former Globetrotter Nat 'Sweetwater'
Clifton. Tickets were $2 for adults and $1 for students.

Bill Broderick takes a look at sports history this week in Battle Creek in weekly column

Battle Creek has a rich history in the world of sports and it's fun to look back and see what has happened in the past and also see how much has changed.

Each week, we are going to look back at that history and point out a few highlights from this week in the calendar at five spots in our past — 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago and 50 years ago - and now due to popular demand, we have added the 1970s to the mix.

Maybe a few names from the past will bring about some memories of your own. Also, the deeper we go back, I think it will be fun to see how much the sports world has evolved — like the terminology and what was a priority on the sports pages.

In this space, I will break down some of the more interesting events of this week in sports history. But the real fun will be online where I will add old photos, old Enquirer front pages and old stories, courtesy of the Enquirer archives, from the era.

Week of March 19

10 years ago - 2005

*Olivet finished off an undefeated season in boys' basketball and won the Class C state title with a 74-55 win over Unionville-Sebewaing at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University, led by Zane Gay and Cam Bramer.

*The Kellogg Community College women's basketball team finished sixth at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament behind Lakeview grad Audrey Graham, Harper Creek grad Tara Plaunt and was coached by Dic Doumanian, who is currently the girls' basketball coach at Pennfield.

*Battle Creek Central grad Ben Reed saw his college career come to an end as Western Michigan University lost to TCU in the NIT. Reed had a game-high 26 points.

Week of March 19

Week of March 19 1995(Photo: Willard Library)

20 years ago - 1995

*St. Philip made history by becoming the first Michigan high school volleyball team to win four state titles in a row, beating Maple City-Glen Lake at Kalamazoo Central High School. The Tigers were directed by legendary St. Philip coach Sheila Guerra and led by sophomores Brooke Formsma and Sara Reeetz, along with seniors Mary Ann Staib and Jenny Heisler. A lot has changed since then. St. Philip has since broke that record and won a ninth straight title in 2014. The match was also televised by a TV station called PASS, which some will remember was the former name of Fox Sports Detroit.

*The Michigan Battle Cats played their first game as a franchise, losing an exhibition spring training game, 5-4. Longtime fan favorite Donnie Sadler was the first Battle Cats batter.

*Olivet was again in the Final Four in boys' basketball, but lost in the Class C state semifinals to No. 1-ranked Centreville, 63-58, to end the year at 25-2. Nate Whitson had 25 points in the contest.

Week of March 19

Week of March 19 1985(Photo: Willard Library)

30 years ago - 1985

*The Enquirer, with an expanded coverage area, covered Hastings, Sturgis and Tekonsha in the state boys' basketball tournament. All three teams lost on the same day in the state quarterfinals. Seemingly the coverage was warranted as huge crowds watched all three games. Hastings, behind Mark Brown, lost to Flint Beecher in front of 4,873 fans at Jenison Fieldhouse at MSU. Sturgis lost to Muskegon Reeths-Puffer at Western Michigan University in front of 4,904 fans. And Tekonsha lost to Bridgman in front of a overflow crowd of more than 2,000 at Marshall High School.

*The Enquirer All-City boys' basketball team was featured for 1975 as Battle Creek Central's Chuck Turner was named Coach of the Year. Also on the team, were BCC's Aaron Cusic, K.P. Porter, Jimmie Wilson and Greg Williams, Pennfield's Jim Berends, Terry Tindol and Mike Johnson, along with Lakeview's Mike Bivens, St. Philip's George Starring and Springfield's Ken Bauer.

*Three Battle Creek area players were named to the Associated Press All-State boys' basketball team, including Albion's Clarence Jackson, Lakewood's Al Westendorpf and Concord's Brian Jurasek. A young sophomore with a 'magical' touch also made the All-State team named Earvin Johnson out of Lansing Everett.

*The Kellogg Community College men's basketball team was looking back at an improved season after it went 10-16 behind team MVP Mark Marlowe. The Bruins had gone 1-27 the season before.

Week of March 19

50 years ago - 1965

Week of March 19 1965(Photo: Willard Library)

*In a slow sports week, local fans were set to be entertained with some 'professional basketball'. An ad in the Enquirer featured an upcoming game at the BCC Fieldhouse between the Harlem Travelers and Pro Football's Cleveland Browns. The Travelers were not quite the Harlem Globetrotters, but had Goose Tatum Jr., the son of a Globetrotter, and former Globetrotter Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton. Tickets were $2 for adults and $1 for students.

Battle Creek History online

•For more on this week in sports history in Battle Creek go online to see an interactive slide show of the front sports pages from the Enquirer from 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago. Go to www.battlecreekenquirer.com/sports